Many musicians enjoy volunteering to play for schoolchildren and seniors. It's rare, however, to see an internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, on a break between solos with the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Musikverein and the Israeli Philharmonic, giving free concerts.

Pablo Sáinz Villegas, who has collected accolades while performing with orchestras the world over, is making it a priority to bring music to people who might otherwise miss out – even as his schedule grows more crammed and his reputation more stellar.

“I try to balance my mind, my spirit and my health,” Sáinz Villegas said. “Philanthropy fits right into that. It's a style of life where you try to take care of yourself and you try to take care of the people around you.”

Sáinz Villegas recently called the International Community Foundation, a nonprofit in National City that focuses on education and development in the border region and Mexico, and asked how he could help.

As a result of those conversations, this week Sáinz Villegas is giving concerts and lectures at three public schools in National City, mixing in stories about his career path and the music he loves. On Sunday, he will give a benefit recital and auction private performances for the nonprofit's work in Mexico. Beyond fundraising, the idea is to find new ways to bring cultures into a dialogue when, in the San Diego region, people may be growing more fearful of crossing the border.

“We want to promote the notion that we are one, that music transcends borders,” explained Richard Kiy, the nonprofit's president and chief executive.

Art helps to get that point across. Money does, too.

Sáinz Villegas and the nonprofit's employees recently settled on a name for the project: Music Without Borders.

Sáinz Villegas is an ideal ambassador, say those who know him.

“He's very down-to-earth and very caring,” Kiy said. “He's relatively young, but he's playing all over the world. He really wants to make a difference.”

He picked up his first guitar at the age many children are just learning to hold a pencil.

“I was 6, and the guitar was almost bigger than me,” Sáinz Villegas said from Manhattan.

He recalled how, growing up in Logroño, a city in the Rioja region of Spain, he felt soccer and guitar tugging at his heartstrings – and the guitar won.

“Little by little, the guitar required more of my time. The more I practiced, the more rewarding it got,” he said. “In the beginning, it was like a game. I always enjoyed playing the guitar, and I never had pressure from my teachers or my parents to practice.”

At 16, he committed to the instrument full time. It turns out that he had a lot to look forward to: In 2006, he received the gold medal in the inaugural Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition, given to promising young performers.

He has played all over the world and recorded several CDs.

Last year, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, and in December, he received the Ojo Critico award, one of Spain's top honors in artistic achievement, alongside filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. In June, he'll join the Israel Philharmonic for a 12-concert tour.

Sharing the stage with Almodóvar? “Very nice.” With Zubin Mehta and company? “I never thought I would play with them.”

Life these days is “very full – very exciting – very intense.”

“It's a career that's full of contrasts,” he reflected. “When you're on the concert hall stage, you're playing for thousands of people and it's very intense and rewarding. And that night, you're on a flight, alone, going somewhere else.”

For a musician who travels the world alone, practices alone and swoops in and out of spotlights, volunteering could be a way of making his work matter on a much different scale.

When Sáinz Villegas was 12, he played for a senior home in Spain, and he still remembers the “sweet” expressions in his listeners' eyes. It's the same word he uses to describe the children he plays for now in school assemblies around the United States.

“They are so attentive that playing for them is a pleasure,” he said. “The way they look at you, it's so sweet. I mean, it's very rewarding.”

For the National City schools, the visit is a gift, said Luz Vicario, principal of Olivewood Elementary.

“We are ecstatic,” he said. “I know the kids are going to be dazzled.”

Sunday's concert will feature Spanish and Latin American composers and take place at the nonprofit's headquarters at the historic Walton House in National City. The first goal is to raise funds for the nonprofit's activities in Mexico; the second is to help fund cultural events. The goal is $125,000, and the tickets are $125 each.

Kiy, the foundation's president, said he views this as the first of many events to “promote expanded cultural exchange and participation in the San Diego-Baja region.”